As I do every month, I just published an issue of my composing newsletter. I do not link to it every month (perhaps I should? Feel free to send me an email in reply to this post and tell me one way or another!) but I make an exception for two cases:
- The first issue of the year seems a good time! I know I have a fair number of new readers here lately, who may be unaware of it.
- Issues where I am particular proud of the essay or where it shares something particularly important. This one goes under “particularly proud of the essay”.
The teaser/hook for the top of the issue is:
Why do we make art? How do we fight off the discouragement of knowing our work will never stand alongside the greatest of the greats? How do we hold onto the joy of the thing?
These are tensions I feel constantly. I do not have perfect answers, but I think this essay is a good step in the right direction. It certainly helped me make more sense of how I want to think about these things: as writing often does for me. If composing music specifically or making art generally or human creativity most of all is of interest to you, I think you might like this issue in particular. (And of course, if you like my writing here, there’s a good chance you will enjoy that newsletter more generally!)